Families gathered in numbers to celebrate International Museum Day 2024 as the Fiji Museum opened its third gallery today.
A few of the artifacts include a Western-style wedding dress made from indigenous materials and worn by Adi Litia Mara when she married Henry Dugdale in September 1991.
Other artifacts on display were the different kinds of barkcloth (masi) which include the stencilled (masi kesa), smoked masi (masi kuvui), white or plain (masi seavu) and yellow masi (masi rerega) which reflect a person's rank in society, while white or brown masi is only used by those of chiefly status.
Another artifact is the writing desk that was used by Ratu Josefa Lalabalavu Sukuna at Boron House and his old printing machine, war clubs, clay pots and different types of mats that tell their own story by their colour.
The celebration also reflects the theme for this year which is "Museums for Education and Research" as a means of demonstrating how museums serve as dynamic educational institutions, fostering learning, discovery and cultural understanding.
The Fiji Museum is planning to open its remaining exhibition on the 27th of this month.
The Fiji Museum works to preserve the cultural heritage of both Fiji’s Indigenous inhabitants and the other communities that have settled here over the past 200 years.
As Fiji’s national museum, it exists to collect, care for and share the 10,000+ objects, textiles, flatwork, archaeology, natural history and archival/photographs in its collection, and through them, tell a story about Fiji’s history.
It was established in 1904 with the specific purpose of creating a national cultural facility to both protect and preserve Fiji’s cultural heritage as well as create a space for the public to engage with and appreciate the nation’s rich and diverse heritage.
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